Is Kiribati embracing solar energy?

Poverty-stricken and energy-poor, the remote South Pacific island nation of Kiribati is embracing solar energy. Is its experience a model or a cautionary tale? BUARIKI, KIRIBATI — As late as 1990, nightfall in Kiribati (pronounced “Kiribass”), a patchwork of tiny islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, was accompanied by a peculiar odor.

Does Kiribati's 25-year solar rollout go smoothly?

But the 25-year solar rollout in Kiribati hasn’t always gone smoothly, according to officials and energy consultants.

Is Kiribati a happy country?

“We’re so much happier.” Since 1991, the state-owned Kiribati Solar Energy Company (KSEC) has distributed approximately 4,400 home solar systems across 21 of the country’s 33 islands and received millions of dollars in development assistance from Japan and then the European Union, according to Tavita Airam, the company’s chief executive.

Why is Kiribati a swath of ocean?

The vast swaths of ocean that separate Pacific Island states from each other, and from the nearest continents, coupled with a lack of fossil-fuel reserves and (for Kiribati and some of its neighbours) arable land for subsistence agriculture, make long boat trips and extensive imports of food, fuel and other essential goods a fact of life.

Did Kiribati have a 63 per cent electrification rate?

By that measure, Kiribati, with a 63 per cent electrification rate, looked rather modern. Yet even that rate was less than Britain’s (66 per cent) on the eve of the Second World War. WHO’S INSPIRING YOU THROUGH THEIR WORK TO END ENERGY POVERTY?

How long does it take to ship KSEC to Kiribati?

The two-hour boat ride across an ocean lagoon from South to North Tarawa is short by local standards; Airam said it can take nearly two weeks to ship KSEC solar equipment from South Tarawa’s port to some of Kiribati’s more remote islands. (He usually flies to site visits.)